Trump Budget Cuts Fail In the Senate Because of GOP Defections

In the aftermath of the budget deal, the Trump administration submitted a package of $15 billion in cuts under a process known as recission.

President Donald Trump will request a package of $15 billion in spending cuts from Congress on Tuesday, including some $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program championed by Democrats, senior administration officials said on Monday.

One official said the targeted cuts would cover “unobligated balances” or money that is not being spent. He said the cuts would not have an effect on the CHIP program itself.

The advantage of this process is that it couldn’t be filibustered. A simple majority in the House and Senate and the cuts were done. Well, the GOP being the stupid party, that didn’t happen:

The 48-50 vote rebuffed a White House plan to claw back some $15 billion in spending previously approved by Congress — a show of fiscal responsibility that was encouraged by conservative lawmakers outraged over a $1.3 trillion spending bill in March.

Nevertheless, Wednesday’s outcome was startling because one of the “no” votes came from Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.), who does not normally buck the White House or leadership. Burr’s office had no immediate comment.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), a moderate who is one of the Republicans who most frequently sides with Democrats, cast the other “no.”

The cuts in the rescissions package included $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program, mostly from an expired account that can no longer be used; $5 billion from Energy Department programs, including a little-used loan program for advanced technology vehicle manufacturing; and smaller amounts from a variety of other programs ranging from Forest Service land acquisition to the Millennium Challenge Corp.

Independent analyses said that since most of the money would not have been spent anyway, the actual spending reduction was closer to $1 billion.

Let’s face it, if we can’t win a vote to cut money that can’t be spent, then we are truly f***ed when it comes to making actual budget cuts.